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What Makes God a Little Bonkers

I think it makes God a little bonkers when we won’t share our trials, hardship and sadness with him. God wants to hear…everything! There’s no need to be afraid. He’s ready and waiting to smite the problem. Not you.

When we pray, we lift up our hearts to the Lord. I agree that it’s a great thing to praise the Creator, Savior and lover of our lives. We have breath, strength, a plan for the day and live surrounded by the support of family and friends. I mean, if you took notes of every good thing you saw today, you’d have a hefty list by bedtime. Just the act of waking up is miracle to be praised.

St. Paul says in Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances.” We are encouraged to be happy, joyful and thankful, and to let those emotions flow into our prayer life. It sounds great doesn’t it? Well, that’s because it is. But…

What if you don’t feel joyful? What if you feel sad, disappointed or scared? Maybe your heart won’t lift off the ground today because you’ve been betrayed. Your child said some hurtful things to you. The bills total more than your checkbook balance. You’d really like to make a joyful noise – but all the disappointing experiences of the day have robbed the joy of your soul.

All you feel is sorrow, anger and embarrassment. How do you make a prayer out of that?

Some people don’t think that prayer should include any negative feelings. Instead, they berate themselves for their emotions, and hurry to throw sand and dirt over them. “God doesn’t want to hear my litany of problems. He wants me to be thankful, not mournful.” So they struggle to ‘pray hopefully’ for a while, trying to smile through the pain. But soon, prayer just stops. It’s too hard. And it feels dishonest.

I think that’s a great idea. Why continue prayer that feels forced and inauthentic? But instead of quitting altogether, beginning to pray from the heart, no matter how the heart feels, would be a sincere and healing step. God knows how you feel anyway, nothing is a surprise to him. So why not settle in to prayer and let your feelings flow?

Remember when your child was small, and it was obvious something happened at school? You’d ask, “How was your day?” And all you get back is: “Fine.” No matter how you ask, the answer was always the same. But you knew things weren’t fine. And if you were me, you’d start to go a little bonkers too. I mean, I can’t force the information out, squeezing my little one like a tube of toothpaste. I’d just have to wait…and watch my child be unhappy.

Well, just like me, Our Father doesn’t want to watch any of us be unhappy either. So don’t drive our Father bonkers. Just tell him everything, he can take it. And then you’ll see how he’ll take on all those problems too.

34 thoughts on “What Makes God a Little Bonkers”

Such great advice, Ceil! God does know our hearts and our troubles; there is nothing we can hide from Him, so why not go ahead and tell Him how we feel? He is the only One who can help us heal and grow.
Blessings to you!

One time, I was mad at God. So mad. I was raging, angry, fearful, just mad. I was far from home in Izmir, Turkey in an apartment in a crowded place and I was yelling at God, in my heart only because in times like that I am silent.

You know what?

He just hugged me and held me, in my spirit, also silent. He just held me with love.

Hi Sandi! Wow…this sounds like quite a story. You were in Turkey? Such a beautiful place. I’d love to hear what happened someday.

Your feeling of being hugged and held is so inspiring. And so like God! He is our best Father of all. I’m so glad you could feel him with you. Thank you so much for sharing your cherished memory here. I really appreciate it.

Do you know what a “Gibb’s slap” is Ceil? On NCIS Gibbs will slap someone on the back of their head emphasizing a point they should have gotten. I know God is not violent and do things that way but I sometimes wonder if He feels like that. I know sometimes I want to do the “V-8” forehead slap. 🙂 He wants us to share our trials with Him.

Hi Bill! I’m not familiar with the Gibb’s slap, but I totally get your point. (Even the V8 one!) I know we all could use one of those ‘love taps’ from time to time. Wake up and share with the best Father you’ll ever have, right?

I think it gets us in a heap of trouble when we are not authentic, period. Who can redeem those negative self inflicted feelings better than a Savior and if He is a personal one, we only feel closer to Him and more released. But I think it’s true in the church, too. I like testimonies because they remind me that I’m a sinner like the speaker and can have victory over anything that God is involved in; He has no limitations. Hooray for the courageous ones who are not afraid to share their story!

Hi Lesley! The Psalms are a great example of pouring out a heart to the Lord. David didn’t shy away from his sadness and anger, that’s for sure. And he was a ‘man after my own heart’. I should have included him and the Psalms in the post. Great thought!

Indeed, we often feel so low that we cannot even be bothered to pray, let alone be thankful as St Paul says. The reason is because we are focussing too much on us and our problem rather than on God and what He can do.

Put another way. We don’t trust Him enough. And that makes Him more sad than us not telling Him our problem.

What a fun piece, Ceil! I’d never thought before what would make God bonkers; but it would stand to reason as the Ultimate Parent He’d be as frustrated with non-talking children as we would be. Why not just come clean and tell it like it is? He’s not afraid of strong emotions!

Hi Jerralea! I think we are on the same page here. God knows our thoughts and feelings, but really wants us to engage in conversation with him. Just like we do with our own children and family. What a compassionate, loving Father he is!

You know, I never thought of it this way, but I imagine it does break the heart of our Father when we won’t tell him what is on our mind. He knows anyway, but I think He wants to hear it in our own words. Thank you for another great post, my friend. God bless you. 🙂

Well said, Ceil. I think many of us try to tell God what we think He wants to hear instead of being honest with Him. As a parent, I know that no matter how painful what they said might be, I would ALWAYS rather hear the truth from my kids than what they thought I wanted to hear.

Hi Pam! That’s such a great point about painful things we hear from our children. It is SO hard to hear sometimes, but I know, like you, that I’d rather hear the truth. How much more then does our Father want to hear what we have going on in our hearts too.

Awesome post Ceil. Oh the power of prayer. I sat under a Bible Study once about the Tabernacle. Years later, I taught it. What intrigued me the most and spoke the loudest to me was at how specific and detailed that God was in building the tabernacle. The fact that He cared EVEN about the colors that was used blew me out of the water. GOD CARED about the color of things? He loved the details. When I sat under that Bible Study it radically changed my prayer life. I learned that if it was important to me then it was important to Him and that He cared about every detail of my life. Good, bad, pretty or ugly. That my prayers was important and that though He already knew my heart, He still longed for that intimate relationship with me and desired for me to come to Him with my good, bad, ugly and pretty. Thanks so much for sharing this today. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

Hi Cindy! I just smiled the whole time I read your comment. What a great insight into the caring nature of God! Even what we see as meaningless details, he sees as critically important. I love that! Thank you so much for your thoughts today, you helped me see this even clearer.

Oh, praise God we can come to Him just as we are! He already knows it all already … why would we even think about keeping a single thought from Him! What freedom and release for those who cast every one of their cares and sins and stuff on Him.

Hi Jeanette! I’m sorry you needed the reminder, but glad you saw it here. Even if it’s something we already know, getting a reminder is always helpful. So…let ‘er rip. He can take it, and he’s waiting to hear it all from you.

This is so good, Ceil. Even though God knows all the deep feelings of our hearts, He longs for us to pour them out to Him. He wants us to need Him and His love and healing. I love Romans 8:1 where we are reminded there is NO condemnation in Christ Jesus. That’s so different than what was taught in the church we grew up in. I’m so grateful God has taught me that He loves us so much and longs for us to confide in Him with every feeling of our hearts. He is so patient with us even when we can’t feel joyful. Thank you for this encouraging reminder! Love and hugs to you!

Hi Trudy! Thank you for sharing that Scripture here, it really does add a lot to the conversation. Everything. That’s what God wants to hear, and isn’t that good news? He really is patient with us in our sorrow and anger, and goes to work to help the situation, or to help us adjust. What a wonderful Father!

He is the safer than any friend or family member for He never gossips. And I do not have to pay Him like I would a professional counselor, He has already paid for my right to come to Him with anything. Now knowing that and acting upon that knowledge is another thing. So often I am like that child and refuse to tell Him. I figure He knows it anyway but like a loving parent He wants to hear it from me personally. This was a good post.

Hi Betty! Thank you for your kind words about the post, I really appreciate them. I had to smile when I read the part of your comment about “He never gossips.” That’s so true and so lovely. He wants to be our best friend in good times and the bad.

Hi Ceil! I’m sorry to be so late reading, commenting, and sharing. You are so spot on–God does want us to share EVERYTHING with Him. No matter how we are feeling we can pour our hearts out to God. How amazingly cool is that–the Creator of the universe and everything in it–wants to hear from us!

oh so true! be honest with God. I know when I am honest, often outloud too, i hear myself in new ways too. And I realize I can’t do it on my own and how much I need God’s strength and guidance and love. You have helped me stop and praise God today with your words!